“If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go with others.” – African proverb
As human beings, we are all connected. We live in a world where everything is connected to everything else, including us. Everything we do, say, think, and believe affects others, and we’re all just a small part of something much, much bigger.
Behind every successful person, there’s a whole bunch of other people successfully doing what they do best. This is true in all walks of life, whether you’re a medal-winning athlete, a multi-millionaire businessperson, or an award-winning celebrity. When medal-winning athletes are interviewed, they’ll often dedicate their win to all the “backstage” members of the team who supported them on their journey and made it possible, and Oscar-winning actors will often give long lists of inspirational individuals past and present in their gushy acceptance speeches. The ripple of influence extends far and wide.
Of course, you don’t need to be a multi-millionaire or an award-winner to be successful, and the influential people in your life don’t need to be famous. We all have the potential to inspire others and be inspired by others at all levels. Take a moment to think about inspirational people in your life. They can be people you know or people you know of; they can be people who are in the world today or people who lived long ago; they can be people who inspire you in your daily life now or people who inspired you in your younger years – and they could even be fictional characters. Thinking about why these people inspire you can help you to pinpoint what success really means to you and what you really want to achieve in life.
“Stay close to anything that makes you glad you are alive.” – Hafez
The word “inspire” actually originates from the Latin word “inspirare” which means “to breathe or blow into” so in a literal sense, people and things that inspire you are things that blow air into your life. When you think of it this way, the people and things that inspire you are effectively the things that make you feel like you’re taking in a breath of fresh air and the things that give you a lift in life.
“It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done.” – Vincent Van Gogh
We each have within us our own source of inspiration as we are all inspired by the things we feel passionate about. When you connect with your passion, you discover your true self, and you find your inspiration, and when you find your inspiration, you find your success.
Don MacNaughton is a High-Performance Coach and has worked tirelessly to help clients achieve success in the world of sport and business over the past 15 years. The next, highly popular, NLP Diploma and Life Coaching Certificate course starts in April 2019. Click here for more information or to sign up.